Nesting socket assembly



June 14, 1960 s. M. DEL cAMP NESTING SOCKET ASSEMBLY Filed June 19, 1957INVENTOR SCIPIONE M. DELCAMP 8% Wu, ATTORNEK llnited Statcsl'atent2,941,180 NESTING SOCKET ASSEMBLY Sci'pio'ne M. Del Camp Maywob'd, Ill.,assignor, by

Filed June 19, 19'57,Ser. No. 666,679 4 Claims. (Cl. 339-14) Thisinvention relates to atube socket assembly, and

more particularly to a nesting socket wherein a plurality thereof can bestacked in coacting relation within a magazine for singular dischargetherefrom.

It has become desirable in connection with the mount ing of componentson printed wire circuit panels, to machine-mount socket assemblies. Thatis to say, machines are contemplated which will take socket assembliesone-by-one from a magazine filled therewith, and mount-such sockets inthe appropriate locations therefor by pressing the socket terminalsthrough apertures-provided for such purpose in the printed wire panel.In one type of socket assembly, a ground clip is a part thereof, and as,is well known the ground clip is secured to the underside thereof andextends upwardly beyond the socket casting to mechanically engage andestablish electrical connection with a metal shield which will bepositioned about the tube that is placed in the socket assembly.

In socket assemblies so equipped with ground clips, a particular problemhas been created in that the most simple and therefore desirablemagazine for the storage of socket assemblies therein, comprises acylindrical tube; and the ground clips interfere with the free movementof the socket assemblies therethrough because they extend outwardlybeyond the normal peripheral limits of the socket assembly in theirextension thereabove.

An object of the present invention is to provide a socket assemblywherein such diiiiculties are remedied without the necessity ofresorting to complex and costly magazine design. Another object of theinvention is in the provision of nesting socket assemblies wherein onecoactingly nests within another in providing a stack thereof, and inwhich ground clips carried by the various socket assembliesare containedwithinthe pen'metric dimensions thereof and also within the perimetricdimensions of sockets nesting therewith.

Still another object is that of providing a plurality of like sockets,each having elements coactively engageable with complementary elementsof another such socket, and in which the ground clips carried by therespective sockets have upper portions thereof which nest within theground clip of the sockets thereabove. Yet another object of theinvention is to provide a plurality'of socket assemblies havinginterengaging elements securing each to the other to define a stackthereof receivable within a magazine therefor, and wherein ground clipsprovided by the socket assemblies are maintained within the perimetersthereof whereby hollow, tubular magazines may be used for storage of thesocket assemblies.

Yet a further object is that of providing a socket assembly having aterminal-equipped casting provided with apertures therein alignable withthe terminals of a like socket for receiving the same therein, in whicheach socket is preferably provided with a ground pin having a dependingend receivable within the open upper end of the corresponding ground pinin such a like socket assembly, and in which a ground clip carried bythesocket is constructed and arranged so as to partially nest within acorresponding 2,941,180 Patented June 14, 1960 ground clip provided by alike socket assembly so that each ground clip is not only containedwithin the circumferentialdimensionsof its socket assembly, but alsowithin the same limits of an identical socket assembly. Ad'- ditionalobjects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as thedescription proceeds.

An embodiment of. the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which- Figure l is a side view in elevation of a pair ofsocket assemblies embodying the invention, shown in nesting relation andin which a tubular magazine therefor is illustrated in broken lines;Figure 2- is a front view in elevation of one of the socket assemblies;Figure 3 is a perspective view of a ground clip; and Figure 4 is a topplan View of a socket assembly. v

A. pair of socket assemblies are illustrated in Figure l, and fordifferentiation are denoted with the numerals It and .11. Each comprisesa casting or'socket body 12 provided at the upper end thereof with anoutwardly extending annular flange 13 having, as is shown best in Figure4, a plurality of apertures or openings 14 extending therethrough inspaced apart relation along a circular arc having its center at themidpoint'of the casting. Spaced in wardly 'of the apertures 14 are aplurality of openings or passages-15 that extend through the castingbody and lie along a circular arc of smaller radius than theoneheretofore described, in spaced apart-relation and in radialalignment'with the respective apertures 14. fInthe specific illustrationthere are nine openings 15, and similarly nine apertures 14. The castingis also provided with a central bore or opening 16 therethrough.

Mounted within the central opening 16 is a center or ground pin orterminal 17 having an outwardly swaged flange 18 at its upper end and adepending lower end 19 that may. be formed of three individual legsturned inwardly at the lower end thereof to provide an inwardlycompressible ground pin structure. Preferably, one or more of thevarious legs that define the lower end portion 19 of the ground pin 17has an outwardly extending protuberance 20 thereon so as to engage aprinted wire carried upon the underside of a printed wire panel.

Extending through-the openings .15 are the respective terminals 21 thathave outwardly turned portions 22, that lie along the respective radiidefinedby the aligned openings 14 andlS, which terminate in dependingends 23 which, as shown in Figure 1, are receivable in or extensiblethrough the apertures 14 of a like or corresponding socket assemblydisposed therebelow. More specifically, the depending ends 23 of theterminals provided by the socket assembly 10 extend through theapertures 14 in the annular casting flange of the socket assembly 11.The depending ends of the various terminals have locking protuberances24 extending outwardly therefrom for engagement with the underside of aprinted wire panel, and the upper end portions thereof are generallytubular for receiving the pins of a tube therein and are swaged over asshown at 25 to confine the same within the openings 15. 1

As shown in Figure 4, the .perimetric or circumferential edge of theflange 13 has a plurality of notches 26 and 27 formed therein which areuseful in process: ing of the casting 12, and along one side thereof apor tion of the flange is removed to provide a recess or flattened area28. Extending upwardly therealong is the ,upper leg 29 of aground clip30 which has a generally horizontal leg 31 terminating in a ring-shapedend 32 that passes the ground clip therethrough and establisheselectrical connection therewith by means of the pointed finge1 33. i Thehorizontal leg 31 of the ground clip ext ends radially outwardly alongthe underside of the flange 13 through a channel 34 provided therefor inthe casting 12, and is rigidly secured to the casting by means of ahollow rivet 35 that extends through an opening 36 in the flange 13 andthrough an opening 36 in the horizontal leg 31 of the ground clip whichis aligned therewith. The generally'vertical leg 29 of the ground clipslants inwardly slightly,'as shown in Figure 1, and terminates in agenerally V-shaped end 38 intended to establish electrical contact witha tube shield. j

The leg 29 of the ground clip is enlarged adjacent it intersection withthe horizontal leg 31 and is open centrally to provide a channel orrecess 39 adapted to receive the turned end 38 of another ground cliptherein, as shown in Figure 1. It is apparent that when the end V theinvention has been set forth and described in conf end positionedlaterally outwardly therefrom, said casting '38 of one ground clip isreceived within the channel 39 of another, the end is at the same timepartially nested within the recess or flattened area 28 of a socket casting thereabove. The ground clip has a spring-like reg silience so thatit firmly bears against and thereby establishes a good electricalconnection with a tube shield.

It provides a. flow path for electrostatic and electromagnetic energyfrom such tube shield to the ground pin 17, which in turn will beelectrically connected to a ground wire of a printed circuit panel,

The socket assemblies have the components thereof joined with each otherby conventional practices and, as is well known, the casting or body 12is an insulating material, while the terminals 21 are conductors .toconnect the pins of a tube with the appropriate wires of a 'printedcircuit panel. After assembly, the sockets may be nested one withinanother (as shown in Figure 1), and because of the spacing of theterminals 21 and of the corresponding apertures 14, there is only onerela-- tive position of the socket assemblies in which they may be sonested-namely, the one illustrated in Figure 1 wherein the ground clipsare vertically aligned with each other. The reason for this is apparentfrom an inspection of Figure 4 which shows that the spacings betweeneach of the terminals are identical except bebeing provided also with acenter opening equipped with a hollow tubular ground pin having an endextending downwardly therethrough receivable within the opposite end ofa corresponding ground pin in a like socket assembly, said castinghaving a plurality of apertures therein each radially alignedrespectively with one of said terminal-receiving openings and verticallyaligned with said depending ends of the terminals for receiving suchends of the corresponding terminals of a like socket assembly therein,and a ground clip secured to the underside of said'casting and incontact with said ground pin and having a leg element extending upwardlyfrom the casting, said casting having a recessed area through which saidleg element 'of the ground clip passes, said leg element having an endportion at its outermost end, and said ground clip having a recesstherein of sufficient size to receive the end portion of a correspondingground clip in such a like socket assembly in nesting relationtherebelow. 3

2. In a socket assembly of the character described, a casting providedwith a plurality of terminal-receiving openings therein each equippedwith a terminal extending downwardly therethrough having a dependingend-posi tioned radially outwardly therefrom, said casting beingprovided also with a plurality of apertures therein each radiallyaligned respectively'with one of said terminal tween two thereof, thosebeing at the right-hand side of Figure 4. Consequently, as stated, thereis only one relative position between adjacent assemblies, wherein theterminals of one can be inserted into the apertures 14 of another.

When a plurality of socket assemblies are nested one within another toprovide a stack thereof, they may be inserted into a substantiallytubular magazine such as the one indicated by broken lines in Figure 1and identified with the numeral 40. It will be appreciated that theinner diameter of 'such hollow, tubular magazine 40 will be but slightlylarger than the outer diameter of the flange 13 so that the stack of-socket assemblies can move longitudinally therethrough without canting.While it is not shown, the magazine or the dispensing machine with whichit is used will be provided withmeans for maintaining the stack ofsocket assemblies within the magazine, while permitting successiveseparation" and withdrawal of the lowermost one thereof.

The socket assemblies cooperatively engage each other, and in effect arein interlocking engagement because of the frictional grip existingbetween the terminals 21 and walls of the apertures 14, and/or thefrictional grip existing between the depending end 19 of the ground pin17 and the upper end of the corresponding ground pin of the adjacentsocket assembly. Therefore, the

receiving openings and vertically aligned withsaid depend ing ends ofthe terminals for receiving such ends of the corresponding terminals ofa like socket assembly therein, and a ground clip secured to theunderside of said casting and having a leg element projectingthereabove, said casting having a recessed area therein through whichsaid leg element of the ground clip extends, said leg having an endport-ion at its outermost end and said ground clip having a recesstherein of sufficient size to receive the end portion of a correspondingground clip provided by the socket assembly nested in adjacencytherebelow.

v 3. In a stack of socket assemblies oriented one above the vother forreceipt within a magazine, a plurality of substantially identicalsockets having top and bottom surfaces, each of said .sockets beingequipped with a ground clip having a generally vertical leg extendingupwardly therefrom beyond said top surface, said leg having an endportion at its outermost end, each of said ground clips also having arecess therein adjacent the bottom portion of said vertical leg forreceiving said end portion therein of the ground clip carried by thesocket body disposed therebelow. l

4. The structure of claim 3 in which each of said ground clips isprovided with a generally horizontal leg extending along the bottomsurface of the respective socket bodies,and in which each of said socketbodies has a recessed area along an outer edge thereof receiving saidvertical leg of the ground clip therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,269,605 Smith Ian. 13, 1942 2,448,452 Morelock Aug. 31, 1948 2,774,949Cardani Dec. 18, 1956 2,825,881

Del Camp Mar. 4, 1958

